


Backup Plan

by ShadowoftheLamp



Category: H.I.V.E. Series - Mark Walden
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Fan Characters, Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-12-22
Updated: 2016-01-15
Packaged: 2018-05-08 11:38:31
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 3,460
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5495735
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ShadowoftheLamp/pseuds/ShadowoftheLamp
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>They'd gone in looking for information. They came out with Otto's sister.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> The FC is mine, and she's a bit old, but I loved her, and some people on tumblr did too, so sharing this here! I know her idea is a bit sue-ish, but I'm doing my best to make her well rounded, which will come out more in later chapters.
> 
> This takes place soon after Deadlock.

It was unnerving, walking through the lab he was made in. 

Or rather, what was left of it. 

It hasn't been hard to track news of an explosion a mere four miles from his old orphanage. It has happened the day after his birthday- or, rather, the day he'd been left on the doorstep. 

And now he was walking through the remains of his birthplace. 

Somehow, when wondering who his parents were, he'd never pictured anything like this in his wildest dreams- or nightmares. 

They were all wearing masks, due to dust. Almost everything had been blown to pieces, but here and there a cabinet of papers survived with only dents and half-melted metal. Shelby picked up one of the sheets with only minor burns, and squinted. 

"Either of you nerds get this?" She shoved it at Laura. 

"DNA encoding? I'm a computer gal, not Little Miss Frankenstein."

"The Disciples likely took everything of importance." Wing said. 

"Much as I enjoy traipsing around underground," Shelby started, leaning against a wall, "I don't think-" 

The wall caved in and she fell backward, only her Wraith reflexes saving her from landing on her butt. 

In contrast to the destruction outside, this room seemed barely touched, aside from things knocked off shelves. There was a large dusty tube in the corner, but otherwise, the room had nothing but empty (and mostly broken) glass jars and a lab coat left on a chair. 

"Huh. Looks like they didn't find this one." Laura strode over to the tube, moving to wipe at it with her sleeve. "Wonder what's-"

She let out a strangled scream, and the other three raced over. 

"What is it?" Wing asked, hands up. She pointed. 

There was a face behind the glass. The eyes were closed, as was the mouth, but the button nose was familiar. 

Otto wiped his palm over the tube, smearing the dust for a moment before wiping it off completely. 

It was a girl. Her hair reached past her knees, and she was naked and nearly emancipated, but it was a girl. 

She had snowy white hair and Otto's face. 

"Always used to wonder if I had siblings," Otto said in a thin voice.


	2. Chapter 2

"What do we do with her?" Wing asked quietly. 

"If she's got Otto's powers, she'd be awesome to have around." Shelby said, before lightly elbowing Otto. "Not that we don't love you for your personality, short stack."

"Gee, thanks." Otto grumbled, before straightening up. "She's right, though. When we're going against the clones, we'll need all the help we can get." Shelby pulled out her communicator.

"Shelby to Dreadnought. We found something." She paused. "Someone."

"Someone is _alive_ down there?" Diabolus sounded shocked. 

"Sorta. It's a long story, but we need a few people for extraction. Maybe a forklift. The tube looks heavy."

Otto and Laura were fiddling with the wires in the back of the girl's tank. More specifically, Laura was fiddling with them, while Otto was forcing the old system to stay lit long enough to Laura to be able to tell what everything did. Otto sifted through the data, the Overlord-created encryption and old programming giving him a bit of a headache. 

_Experiment: 0101_

_Code name: Eve_

_Reason for discontinuation: Flawed 23rd chromosome._

_Reason for being kept alive: Backup_

The rest was all about how the program was kept online only to distribute enough nutrients to keep her alive. From the numbers, it would have run out in less than six months. 

_Backup._

If he'd died, Overlord would have come back and taken her as a host. 

It was weird to think about. 

He pulled out of the system as Laura triumphantly held up her Blackbox with wires trailing out of it. 

"Got it! She shouldn't die on the trip now."

"Wouldn't want that." Otto rubbed his eyes, tiredness painted across his face. 

"Are you all right?" Wing asked quietly. "This is quite a shock."

"Yeah. Always wanted a little sis to mess with." He looked back at the tube. "Actually, she's the older one. The data says she was one of the first prototypes, but I think they figured since her chromosomes came out wrong, she'd be glitched." 

"Maybe you can try connecting with her. See if she works right." Shelby suggested. 

"It'd be nice if we just had to carry her instead of this huge tube." Laura agreed. 

"Nah, don't want to kill her on accident. I'll wait until she's in a lab with modern tech." Otto shoved his hands in his pockets. 

"Uh, Otto?" Laura practically squeaked. "I don't think you have a choice."

"What do you-" A tapping noise sounded behind him, and he whirled around. 

The girl's eyes were open, and she had one palm against the glass.


	3. Chapter 3

The girl- Eve, her name was Eve- stared blankly at them. She tapped on the glass again with her left hand, the right one flat against the tube. Her hair floated, weightless, and she seemed to focus on Otto, tuning out the other three. 

"Hello." Otto set a hand on the glass, on top of hers, and she quirked her head to the side. "I'm Otto. Your name is Eve."

"It is?" Shelby asked, but he ignored her. 

"We're getting you out of here." Otto closed his eyes and concentrated.

Eve's computer was just like his, but it felt... blank. Nothing at all. 

Her eye twitched as he pulled away. 

"Do you understand me?"

She didn't move. 

"She probably doesn't speak English." Wing noted. "If she hadn't been ever woken up."

"It must have been either me or Otto." Laura said. "That computer hasn't been touched in at least sixteen years."

"Probably." Otto replied absently. 

"We can't exactly raise her in a week," Shelby pointed out. "We need her walking and talking as soon as possible."

"They must have done something to speed up Zero's development," Otto muttered. "A download, maybe?"

It was quiet for a moment, before Otto spoke again. "I have an idea."

Shelby grinned. "The four best and yet worst words in the English language."


	4. Chapter 4

The ride from the lab back to HIVE had been surprisingly quiet. They'd given Eve a hospital gown from the back, because she'd squirmed relentlessly when they tried to pull her into the extra jumpsuit. 

Laura held her hand, and she kept trying to scoot closer, running her other hand through Laura's hair. Otto leaned forward.

"So. Who wants to tell Nero I've got a sister?"

"I will. You three go with Eve to the core to hook up." Wing said, and Shelby choked on her water.

"Not... the right word choice there." She gasped, and Otto hit her in the back. Wing stared at her for a second, before his cheeks flushed. 

"You know what I meant."

"Why don't _you_ ever hold my hand like this, Otto?" Laura joked, holding up her fingers that Eve had in a death grip. 

"I'll keep in mind that you like anaconda strangleholds."

The atmosphere had lightened by the time they landed in the volcano, and Wing scooped Eve up. She started running her fingers over his face, and Shelby couldn't hold back a laugh when she tugged at the edge of his mouth. 

"Looks like I've got competition."

"I think that's a normal behavior for little kids. Feeling their environment and the people around them, to understand what's going on." Otto said. "The babies in the orphanage were aways messing with everything they could get their hands on."

"I bet you fell asleep drooling over a coding textbook." Shelby said, moving over to Wing so he could pass off Eve. 

"It was nuclear physics, actually."

_____

Otto wished he could have seen the look on Nero's face when Wing told him, but as was, he was sitting in the Core with Eve, the same headband with cords leading to the core on his head as was settled on hers. 

"Are you sure you want to do this? It could damage her brain. She can't have much more willpower than that of a baby." Professor Pike said, leaning against the hub.

"I'll help her, and so will HIVEmind. Let's do this." He reached over and held Eve's hand. She was leaned against the core and shivering from the extreme cold, in nothing but the hospital gown. If they didn't hurry, she might get hypothermia.

"Activating ghost protocols. Opening all sockets in five... four... three... two..." Eve squeezed Otto's hand tighter, and he squeezed back. "One."

Otto was prepared this time, and concentrated on keeping himself together, not giving in to the endless cloud of data at his fingertips. 

"Otto?" HIVEmind appeared 'next' to him. "We need to find her before she is lost for too long. She may never gain consciousness if her brain is completely overwhelmed."

"Her computer is just like mine. You were in there- can you feel it?" Otto swallowed, or at least his pixel representation did. 

"We will need to work together. She surely can't find us on her own." HIVEmind reached for Otto. "I apologize if this is intrusive." He reached through Otto, before his form melted into Otto's, the blue and gold pixels melting together into deep green. 

"Together," Otto agreed, his voice echoing with a ripple of HIVEmind's. 

She wasn't difficult to find, with their combined processing power . She was 'writhing' within the data, a humongous glitch in the system, with no idea of what was going on. Otto mentally winced for having to put her through this, but it was the best option. HIVEmind phased out of his projection as Otto reached for her. 

She was screaming. Her mouth was open but it was only inside her head, and he got a glimpse of the images and words flashing through her head before yanking them both out of the internet, both feet planted firmly on the metaphorical ground as they both tumbled back into reality. 

Otto gasped, eyes blinking from nothingness to the ceiling, and he heaved in a breath. His heart was still racing, and he turned to see Eve's eyes frozen wide open, curled into the fetal position. A pang struck his heart and he tugged off the headband, scooting over to her. 

"Is she-"

"Her heart's racing but her brain waves are closer to yours than they were before." Pike paused. "She may be scared out of her mind, but it looks like it worked."

"Hey," Otto said quietly., making eye contact with her.

Eve stared at him before passing out in his lap.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one was written a while ago, so if it sounds weird, blame that. After this, some chapters may be third person from Eve's perspective.

She didn’t know her name, but she knew that she was scared.

She knew the names of her body parts, but they’re weren’t responding right. Her legs were full of needles, her eyes seemed to be open but she couldn’t see anything other than blurry shapes, and her arms-

Oh, her arms were working. That was good.

“Are you all right?” 

A voice. A person. She tried to reach out for them, to demand answers as to what was wrong with her, but the nearest shape was too far away and she instead slammed hard into something- ground, the ground. 

The shock kick-started her eyes and suddenly all she could see was light before she blinked and- 

People, definitely people. A boy with long black hair tied back into a ponytail held out a hand, and when he spoke- he was the one from before, okay.

“We do not wish to hurt you.” He was too close and not close enough and everything was so tangled up.

_Get away!_ She held up a hand, mimicking him, and his eyes widened as he stepped back. 

“Laura?” The boy asked, and a girl with short-cropped red hair stepped forward, hands up next to her head.

“You’ve just woke up, and you’re probably scared. It’s okay, we don’t want to hurt you. Can I move closer?” The girl’s face looked trustworthy. The boy’s had too, but something made her trust the girl more. Slowly, she nodded. “All right, I’m moving slowly.”

She didn’t want for the girl to move away, so she didn’t, instead settling next to her. Laura, wasn’t it? Laura slowly rubbed her shoulder, clearly trying to calm her down. 

“Do you think you can stand up?”

“Y-yes…” Her voice sounded odd. Too deep, yet too high. She disliked it immediately. With Laura’s arm supporting her, she managed to stand on two feet, but her legs seemed too thin and shook. 

She took a better look around. The boy was still there, with a girl with blonde hair on one side of him and a boy with white hair on the other. The girl stepped forward. 

“Welcome to HIVE. I’m Shelby, and these jokers are Wing-” The boy with black hair nodded- “And Otto.” The other boy, the one with white hair, nodded as well before speaking.

“Welcome to the world, Eve.” She liked his voice. It had a little bit of a pleasant lilt to it.

“Eve?” That was her name? It was short and sweet. She liked it. “W-w-who are all of y-y-you?” Her vocal chords had some kind of hiccup on the way to her mouth.

“Like Wing and Laura said, we’re here to help you.” Otto said. “You’re currently in a side wing of the hospital at the Higher Institute of Villainous Education, and you’re waking up for the first time after being kept in a stasis tube for about seventeen years. We found you, brought you here, and woke you up so you wouldn’t be stuck there forever.” He paused, running a hand through his spiky hair. 

She had a sudden desire to brush it, or at least run her fingers through it. “And… I guess you’re my sister."

She passed out again.


	6. Chapter 6

"She took that well." Shelby said, one eyebrow quirked. 

"We know she can walk, talk, and think now." Otto said.

"And she has Zero's powers." Wing added. "She forced me to back up."

"They could have been encouraged by panic, but that's a good sign." Otto reached down, lifting her torso and flopping it into the bed before sitting down on the end of it himself. 

"She sounded scared." Laura said quietly. 

"Wouldn't you be?" Shelby asked. "I'd try to punch the first person I saw too."

"Anyways. She should wake back up any second. We need to-" Otto started, but Eve stirred, eyes blinking open. She squinted up at the light. 

"Ughhh." She muttered before forcing herself up, weaving a bit. 

"Are you okay?"

"D-dizziness, naus-e-e-a, blurred v-vision... Allergies vertigo or stress m-most common." She seemed to be talking to herself. "Not good, not good at all, c-can't be broken." As she spoke, her vocal hiccups seemed to be smoothing out a bit. 

"You're getting used to being awake. You'll be okay in a bit." Otto said. "You don't have any allergies. Well, other than a minor one to peanuts."

"H-how do you...?" Her eyes locked on him, blinking rapidly. 

"It's a long story, but that's what I have, so that's what you have." 

"Do siblings normally have the same all-er-er-gies?"

"Sometimes."

She scooted closer, before suddenly throwing her arms around him. Otto froze when she buried her face in his chest. 

"So many things. Problems. Solu-tion-tions cause m-more. Everything can kill you. How do- how do people d-do it?" Her breath hitched. 

Otto's arms were pinned to his sides, and he felt squirming out would only scare her more. "Everything can't kill-"

"No!" She clutched him tighter. "Messes knives guns poisons cleaners people teeth bags food... everything!" Her words ran together. Otto winced. 

"I know you saw some scary stuff, but people tend to only show bad stuff. There's a lot of good stuff too."

She lifted her head, staring at him. 

"Promise?"

"Promise."


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had the first half of this done weeks ago but didn't finish until now, oops.

"Lean on me, then try to put one foot in front of the other." Wing said patiently as Eve struggled to move her legs. Laura had grabbed some scrunchies from the nurse to tie back Eve's hair, and she was still in a hospital gown, but she'd had some oatmeal and a little color had appeared on her cheeks. 

"Too long." Eve muttered, lifting one leg to look at it and almost falling back. Wing caught her, and braced his arms under hers. 

"Step back, unto my feet." She almost tripped backwards again but complied, and he took a few steps with her. "Okay, try now." He let Eve go, and she managed to take three quick steps before tumbling to her knees. 

Her eyes watered and she bit her lip in frustration. 

"Not bad." Otto said, offering his hand, and helping her up.

"You're already doing better than most babies." Shelby added. Eve's eyes dropped to the ground.

"Gravity."

"You've been weightless all your life, it'll take getting used to." Laura said reassuringly. 

"Would crutches help?" Wing flipped a thumb back at the door to the rest of the hospital wing, but Eve shook her head. 

"No."

"You were close the last time, try again." Laura held out her hands, and Eve turned from Otto, taking one step towards her, then another. Laura grasped Eve's wrists the moment before her legs gave out, managing to keep her up. "See? You're learning fast!" Eve smiled weakly.

"Say that again." Laura's eyes widened.

"See? You're learning fast." Her voice had dropped a little, and her fingers tightened around Eve's wrists, so deeply her nails dug into the skin. Eve looked down.

"That hurts."

"Don't ever do that again. _Ever._ " Laura's face had gone pale, and Otto rushed over, setting a hand on her shoulder. 

"Are you okay?"

"Not again."

"Wha- oh." _Zero._ Otto tapped Laura's wrists and she let Eve go. She was staring at Laura.

"What did I do?"

"People don't like when you mess with their brains." Otto said bluntly. "Even if it's for something as little as that."

Eve just quirked her head to the side. "Can't everybody?"

"No. We're different." Otto draped an arm over her shoulder and took a step, then another. Leaning on him, she made it across the room, and he settled her back on the hospital bed. "Eve... Most people aren't born in labs. We're... special."

"Special good or special bad?" Her eyes were so wide he could see the hole in her irises. He smiled weakly.

"Depends how we use it. We can use it to help people, or..."

_"We are superior. The next step in human evolution."_

"...Not." Eve finished his sentence, biting her lip and nodding slightly.


	8. Chapter 8

They'd left Shelby to stay with her. 

"I've pulled plenty of all-nighters on Wraith business, one more can't hurt." She'd said. 

But it could. Sleep deprivation was a cause of lots of accidents, and could even lead to death, yet Shelby didn't seem to care. 

She was tapping on her little device. A blackbox, Eve thought she'd heard it called. 

"Wouldn't it be better to ask one of the doctors to come in?" Eve quirked her head to the side. Shelby shook her head. 

"Nah. The less they know, the better."

"But aren't they here to help?" Laura looked up.

"They fix broken bones, not broken heads." Eve winced a little at the bluntness. She supposed it was true, though. She was broken, and they were helping her figure out how to fix it. Shelby got up and settled herself on the end of Eve's bed. "We're all figuring this out together."

"Did Otto have help? He said he was like me, and I felt something unusual in him." Shelby laughed, but it didn't sound right, like all the enjoyment got stuck in her throat.

"Nah, he was a stubborn idiot. He didn't tell anyone but Wing for a while." She paused. "He was an orphan growing up, so he relies on himself too much. He forgets he can lean on us sometimes." Shelby a slight pink tinge on her face, and Eve scooted forward, trying to get a better look. Shelby moved back.

"Personal bubble, much?"

"What?" 

"People like personal space." 

"Oh." Eve slumped back. She felt very small next to Shelby. Her eyes reflected the overhead light like stained glass, and her blonde hair gently curled in a way that reminded Eve of a rippling curtain. "You're very beautiful." Shelby started and the pink tinge in her cheeks deepened.

"Ah- thanks." She smiled and bumped Eve's shoulder. "Always glad to impress."

Eve bumped her back, before settling her head on Shelby's shoulder. This time, Shelby didn't move away. 

"You should sleep." Eve said.

"So should you." Shelby retorted.

"I've slept for seventeen years."

"Nah, that was an extended coma. This is your first real sleep." Shelby started running her fingers through Eve's hair, and try as she might, Eve couldn't stop herself from drifting off.


End file.
